Centerboard pivot for a sailboat

ABSTRACT

HEREIN DESCRIBED IS A PIVOT FOR LOWERING AND RAISING THE CENTERBOARD OF A SAILBOAT. PIVOT HOLDER MOLDS ARE FORMED INTO THE BOTTOM OF THE BOAT AND SECURED THERETO BY A PAIR OF NUTS WHICH ARE WITHIN THE MOLDS. A PAIR OF PIVOT HOLDERS INCLUDING THE PIVOT ROD AND THE CENTERBOARD OF THE SAILBOAT IS BOLTED TO THE NUTS WITHIN THE BOTTOM OF THE BOAT.

Feb. 13, 1973 F. w. BUTLER I CENTERBOARD PIVOT FOR A SAILBOAT Filed Feb.1, 1971 INVENTOR. FRANK W. BUTLER ATTO NEY 3,716,011 CENTERBOARD PIVOTFOR A SAILBOAT Frank W. Butler, Northridge, Calif. (3807 WeatherlyCircle, Westlake Village, Calif. 91324) Filed Feb. 1, 1971, Ser. No.111,525 Int. Cl. B6311 41/00 US. Cl. 114-132 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE Herein described is a pivot for lowering and raising thecenterboard of a sailboat. Pivot holder molds are formed into the bottomof the boat and secured thereto by a pair of nuts which are within themolds. A pair of pivot holders including the pivot rod and thecenterboard of the sailboat is bolted to the nuts within the bottom ofthe boat.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This inventionrelates to boat constructions and more particularly to a .novel andimproved pivot construction for raising and lowering the centerboard ofa sailboat and the like.

'Discussion of the prior art Most all sailboats require a means tostabilize a boat in water to prevent it from tipping over while undersail. This means is oftentimes in the form of a centerboard whichprotrudes downwardly beneath the boat. There are at least two types ofcenterboards, those which are fixed to the bottom of the boat, and thosewhich are removable. The removable type is often preferred in smallerboats when in shallow water or when being placed on a trailer fortransporting to and from the water.

It has been found that a preferred form of retractable centerboard isone which can be raised and lowered from inside of the boat. This hasbeen provided in some structures by use of a cable which protrudesthrough a small opening in the boat and is attached to the centerboardnear the bottom end thereof. The centerboard is then pivoted on a pivotand is raised and lowered by suitable means inside of the boat, such ameans being a crank and a pulley connected to the cable whereby windingof the crank will pull the centerboard up or lower it. Generally thecenterboard is a type which is pivoted at a position somewhere otherthan the center of the centerboard so that it will be easily raised andlowered by its own gravitational weight.

A problem exists in this latter type of centerboard pivot by the factthat because in the past the pivots which secured the centerboard to thebottom of the boat always required that some sort of fastening meansprotrude through the bottom of the boat to secure the pivots to theboat. After a period of use of raising and lowering the centerboard andother stresses and strains upon the pivot, the bolts would work loose orthe pivots themselves would work loose causing a leak in the bottom ofthe boat which of course has an undesirable effect. Further, at timesthe pivot holders and the centerboards have to be removed formaintenance and repair. This also caused leaks if the bolts which fastenthe centerboard extend through the bottom of the boat. Thus continualpatching to the bottom of the boat was necessary.

Thus it would be desirable to provide a means and method of securing thepivot holders to the bottom of the boat so that the centerboard could beeffectively pivoted thereon which does not have an undesirable effect ofcontinuously causing leaks around the fixtures which afiix the pivotholders to the boat.

United States Patent 0 3,716,611 Patented Feb. 13, 1973 SUMMARY OF THEINVENTION Briefly described the present invention provides apparatuswhich overcomes the difiiculties encountered in securing the pivot tothe bottom of the boat so that the centerboard can be effectively raisedand lowered without excessive leaking therearound. In a describedembodiment a pair of receiving molds are cast in the bottom of the hullof the boat and disposed on either side of a cavity. Fastening nuts areembedded within the receiving molds and a pair of pivot holders areconstructed to conform to the molds, one of the pivot holders ispositioned within one of the pair of receiving molds and the other pivotholder is positioned in the other one of the receiving molds. The pairof pivot holders includes holes therein which are aligned with thefastening nuts. A pivot rod is adapted to engage the centerboard and ispivotally mounted to either of the pivot holders whereby the centerboardcan pivot between the pivot holders on the pivot rod. Fastening boltsare disposed through the holes in the pivot holders and threadablyengage the fastening nuts embedded in the receiving molds.

By this embodiment the bolts which hold the pivot holders into thebottom of the boat and within the cavity are never secured completelythrough the bottom of the hull but only engage bolts which are embeddedwithin the plastic material which forms the hull.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other features and advantages willbecome more apparent to those skilled in the art when taken intoconsideration with the following detailed description wherein likereference numerals indicate like and corresponding parts throughout theseveral views and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a sailboat which includes a retractablecenterboard;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the sailboat taken along the lines 2-2 ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section view taken along the lines 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the centerboard pivot in accordance withthe principles of this invention; and

FIG. 5 is a section view taken along the lines 55 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF ONE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Turning now to a more detaileddescription of this invention, one preferred embodiment of thisinvention shows a sailboat 10 which has a retractable centerboard 12.The bottom of boat 10 includes a cavity 14 disposed along a portion ofthe length thereof which includes a somewhat deeper portion 16.Specifically the cavity is L- shaped with the deeper portion 16extending a good distance into the bottom of the boat. Should the hullof boat 10 be comprised of fiber glass or other synthetic material whichis easily cast, the cavity 14 could then be eifectively molded when thehull of the boat 10 is cast.

The centerboard 12 is pivotally mounted by the pivot means 18. Morespecifically the centerboard 12 includes a hole 20 therethrough aboutone-fourth along the axis of the centerboard 12 and positioned near oneedge thereof. As the centerboard 12 is pivoted from the retractedposition 12a to the lower position, the longer end is extended into thewater and the shorter end extends upwardly into the deep portion 12 ofcavity 14 of the hull of boat 10.

To pivot the centerboard 12, the pivot mounting means 18 is secured tothe hull of the boat 10. A pair of cavities 24 and 26 are formed oneither side of the cavity 14. The cavity 14 is best shown in FIG. 5. Apair of pivot rod holders 30 and 32 are constructed to conform to theshape of their respective cavities 24 and 26. Specifically the shape ofpivot holder 30 includes an extending arm 32 which has a hole 34therethrough. The other end of holder 30 includes a pair of extendingflanges 36 and 38 each hav ing a bolt hole 40 and 42 in the endsthereof. Thus the pivot rod holders 30 as shown in FIG. 4 are adapted tobe nested within the mold cavity 24 as best shown in FIG. 5.

Means are provided to secure the pivot rod holders 30 and 32 into theirrespective molded cavities 24 and 26. Specifically as shown in FIG. apair of nuts 42 and 44 are positioned within the material of molds 24and 26 and specifically as shown in FIG. 5 in mold 24. In the embodimentshown special nuts are casts which have a flange portion 46 and 48 onnuts 42 and 44 respectively which are embedded in the fiber glassmaterial which forms the mold 24. The threaded ends of the nuts protrudeupwardly and are exposed to ledge portions 50 and 52 of the molds 24 asshown in FIG. 4. These special nuts are actually cast into solidmaterials which are, for example, comprised of a mat, a roving cloth andresin as an example which are used to build up a thick portion aroundthe outside of the cavity which forms the mold 24. The nuts 42 and 44,for example, have the hollow threaded shaft which are exposed to theledges 50 and 52 and include the plate or flange 46 and 48. Thisprovides that a large amount of pressure may be exerted to the shafts ofthe nuts 42 and 44 and not pull them from within the mold material.

The pivot holders 30 are preferably cast of brass and a brass pivot rod54 is adapted to be engaged through the hole 20 in the centerboard 12and into the holes 34 and 35 of the pivot holders 30 and 32respectively. The pivot holders 30 and 32 are then inserted into theirrespective cavities and a pair of bolts are then inserted through thebolt holes 40 and 42 and threadably engage the nuts 42 and 44, therebyclamping the pivot holder into the hull of the boat and pivotallymounting the centerboard thereto.

In this embodiment a cable, not shown, can then be extended through thebottom of the boat using appropriate methods to prevent leakage thereofand engage the bottom end of the centerboard 12 and be cranked into andout of its retracted or lowered position.

By this invention there is never a problem with leakage around the nutswhich hold the pivot holders into the bottom of the boat because theyare always enclosed within the cavity mold material. Yet the centerboardcan easily be removed for repair if necessary by simply removing thebolts 56 and 58 which then effectively removes the pivot holders and thepivot rod 54, and thereafter the centerboard can be removed.

Having thus described one preferred embodiment of this invention, whatis claimed is:

1. In combination with a molded hull of a boat having a centerboard,said hull having a cavity with said centerboard to be located therein,an apparatus secured to the bottom of said hull to support saidcenterboard for pivoting movement between the retracted and extendedposition, said apparatus including;

mold means molded into the bottom of said hull;

pivot holder means constructed to matingly fit within said mold means;and

pivot means connected to said centerboard and said pivot holder means topivotally mount said centerboard relative to said hull.

2. The combination as defined in claim 1 wherein said mold meansincludes a pair of spaced apart recesses, said cavity being locatedbetween said pair of recesses, said pivot holder means includes a firstpivot holder located within one of said recesses and a second pivotholder located within the other of said recesses.

3. The combination as defined in claim 2 wherein said pivot means beinga rod disposed within an opening in said centerboard, said rodestablishing a cylindrical interfitting relationship with saidcenterboard.

4. The combination as defined in claim 3 wherein:

each of said recesses includes a set of threaded nuts, each of saidpivot holders includes means to facilitate engagement with a set ofthreaded bolts, said bolts of a said pivot holder to cooperate with asaid set of threaded nuts which are embedded Within the hull of the boatin the area of a said recess.

5. A centerboard pivot holder for pivoting a centerboard during thelowering and retracting thereof into and out of a cavity in the bottomof the hull of the boat including:

a pair of receiving molds cast in the bottom of the boat, each of saidpair being cast on either side of the cavity, each mold including a deepportion and a pair of extending ledge portions;

fastening nuts being embedded within said pair of receiving molds andhaving openings therein which extend into the ledges of said receivingmolds;

a pair of pivot rod holders being constructed to conform to said moldseach said mold having an extending arm, the extending arm having a pivothole therethrough, the axis of said pivot hole being normal to thelongitudinal axis of the cavity, each said pivot rod holder having apair of flanges, each flange having securing holes therein being alignedwith the openings of said fastening nuts, one of said holders beingpositionable in one of said pair of receiving molds and the other one ofsaid holders being positionable in the other one of said pair ofreceiving molds;

a pivot rod being adapted to engage the centerboard and the ends of saidpivot rod being pivotally mounted into associated pivot holes of saidpair of pivot rod holders; and

fastening bolts being adapted to be disposed through the securing holein the flanges of said pivot rod holder and into the ledge portion ofsaid pair of pivot molds to threadably engage said fastening nutsembedded in said receiving molds.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,991,749 7/1961 Patterson 114132 FOREIGN PATENTS 825,794 12/1959 Great Britain 114-1s2 TRYGVE M.BLIX, Primary Examiner

